CHIPS Funding Now Locked-In for Micron and Wolfspeed in CNY

Senator Chuck Schumer announced today that a CHIPS agreement has been reached with the Department of Commerce paving the way for up to $6.1 billion in direct funding to build a Micron plant in Clay, and allow for a multi million dollar expansion at Wolfspeed in Marcy. Schumer said the funding for Micron will support their planned landmark $100+ billion public-private investment over the next two decades – the largest in New York’s history – as well as Micron’s expansion in Idaho – "creating thousands of new good paying jobs."

“Micron’s CHIPS funding is locked for Upstate NY. $6.1 billion from my bipartisan CHIPS & Science Law is now secured for Micron to build its new, state-of-the-art complex of memory chip fabs in Central NY and Idaho. A historic day and historic agreement for Upstate NY and America," said Schumer. "This final award locks in the federal investment Micron needs for shovels to be able to hit the ground and create thousands of good-paying jobs here in Upstate NY.”

Meanwhile. Wolfspeed has also reached a $750 million CHIPS PMT funding agreement proposed in October and plans to tap nearly $1 billion from the CHIPS Investment Tax Credit that Schumer helped create in the bipartisan CHIPS & Science Law to support the expansion of their Silicon Carbide Fabrication Facility at Marcy Nanocenter in Marcy, Oneida County, and to build a new facility in North Carolina.

Bolstering the high-tech corridor from Albany to Buffalo over the next 20+ years, Micron plans to build a colossal complex of memory chip plants in Central New York, constructing up to four manufacturing plants at White Pine Commerce Park in Clay (near Syracuse). The company’s plans call for building a clean-room space that will cover about 2.4 million square feet, the size of almost 40 football fields. Micron is the fourth largest producer of semiconductors in the world and makes memory chips that are essential to technology people use every day, from cellphones to cars, and to critical technologies like AI as well as technologies that are used by the military.

Schumer says that "thanks to this CHIPS funding Micron plan’s will help the U.S. grow its share of advanced memory manufacturing from less than 2% today to approximately 10% by 2035."

The finalized agreement for federal CHIPS incentives will support the construction of Micron’s first two fabs in Central NY and an expansion in Idaho to help meet soaring demand for the chips Micron makes. The U.S. Department of Commerce will disburse funds in the coming years as Micron meets project milestones agreed to in the final award.

In addition, the Commerce Department also announced today a new Preliminary Memorandum of Terms (PMT) with Micron for up to $275 million in CHIPS incentives to support a planned $2 billion expansion project at its Manassas facility in Virginia, increasing wafer production and creating thousands of new good-paying jobs.

Today’s award finalizes the second of five agreements in New York for federal CHIPS incentives funded by Schumer’s bipartisan CHIPS & Science Law that are spurring private sector investment and bringing manufacturing back to America. Last month, Schumer announced GlobalFoundries finalized its up to $1.5 billion funding agreement for a combined $12.5 billion public-private investment over the next ten plus years to expand and construct a second, new state-of-the-art computer chip fab in Malta, NY.

The senator also announced that Corning Incorporated reached a $32 million CHIPS PMT funding agreement to make a $315 million investment that would increase production at their Canton facility of specialized glass vital for the semiconductor industry. In addition, Edwards Vacuum announced plans to build a new first-of-its-kind-in-the-country $300+ million dry pump manufacturing facility, supported by an $18 million CHIPS PMT funding agreement.